did free will exist before evil?

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='infinitelord1' date='Apr 14 2005, 09:15 PM'] my friend says that evil existed at the very moment free will began......he says that in order for free will to exist.....there must be a choice between good and evil. This is a very logical point......do you agree? if not, please tell me. [/quote]
Free will, despite popular usage, is the ability to love God freely. Loving God freely does not require that there also be those who love God unfreely, nor that there are those who do not love God at all. Therefore, free will does not require the existence of evil.

[Paphnutius]

What were disagreeing to Jeff? Something that I said?

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='infinitelord1' date='Apr 14 2005, 09:42 PM'] Anyways what u are saying is that free will always existed but it had to be caused by something? Something had to cause the (potential) evil to make the choice to seperate from god? [/quote]
The choice came from within us to choose a lesser good.

[thessalonian]

[quote name='jasJis' date='Apr 14 2005, 03:52 PM'] Well, of neccessity, the '[i]potential[/i] for evil' must exist for free will to exist. Without an either/or choice, there is no free will. Actual evil became reality only after a free will choice to do evil. [/quote]
Actually according to Augustine and others this is not true. He defines free will as the ability to do good. Without grace man cannot choose good. Therefore there is no free will where men are enslaved by their sins. Adam and Eve were free in the garden. Totally free. There was no evil for them. But they were of course capable of doing evil.